The Ironworks - Letters from Viewers

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Have a Question about something or even a comment?
Let us know, And your question may be posted here with a reply from Ironworks Staff!

Updated on February 1st 2001

The Puzzle Room in Icewind Dale

I have IWD. I also have a problem with it. I am on Chapter 4, Dorn's Deep, and I have fulfilled all of the requirements to gain access to the level below the Lightning Bolts o' Death floor. I have walked on all the correct squares, heard the machinery run as I did so, but the center of the floor still hasn't dropped. This is very frustrating. What am I doing wrong, or is it a bug in the game? Please help.

Michael Keegan

What you may have missed is that there is a lever on one of the statues in the room with the map on the table (the room before the actual puzzle room). the lever is on the right side. You'll know which one when it is outlined in a pink box which one it is.

Cheat Problems in Baldur's Gate 2

Dear Ironworks staff,

This site rocks!, I just started really playing video games and I wanted to thank your staff for helping me through the process. Now that that is out of the way I wanted to ask the staff about the Baldurs Gate 2 section. On any cheat where I try to create something (i.e. a monster or item) I get a message "Error File does not exist" The rest of the cheats work though and I cant figure out why these two cheats aren't. I would really appreciate any help you can give me.

P.S Can u tell me if you know the release date of Black and White.

Jason Auriema

You may be entering it incorrectly or you are trying to request an item that doesn't exist. If you are wanting to cheat, and create items, I would defiantly download the Editor called Shadow Keeper. Its an AMAZING editor that will allow you to add ANY item to the game, and even max your spells out! Download this Editor Here.

For the release date of Black and White, I would check out Gonegold, an excellent site for release dates. As of now, they report is as being released on 02/28/01. I hope so, it looks to be a sweet game!

W&W and a few other Questions

A couple of questions. Tried installing the W&W patch - followed the directions (I think) and got a sound init error - had to reinstall the whole game -luckily saved my saved games. Was this a common error or is this something involving my own system and/or idiocy? Finished the game without the patch - with a lot of crashes and freezes but loved it -thanks for all the help and hints.

2. I sent in some hints and cheats but I haven't seen them added yet. What is the turn around time? Should I resend them?

3. any release date for heart of winter?

4. What is the vampire game you are talking about in the letters?

5. Is there any way to get the 2 additional disks for BG2 (that came with the collectors pre-order from Black isle)? - Are they worth it? Not interested in the sound files or clothe map/notepad but extra character and misc. spells/kits/weapons seem interesting. Worth the extra $15 to get it over regular BG2?

Ben Brown

1. Sometimes installing a patch can cause problems, but it could have been any number of things (You know Windows). I always back up my saved games too. I wouldn't worry about it being your system if the errors were just in W&W.

2. We get 100's of tips a week, and I'm just one person (grin), I try to add as many as I can, and I'm sure yours will be added soon. (I dunno if anyone knows, but I maintain the entire tgeweb.com website, just me. weee! :-) I like it that way though in a way, the less corporate, the better! heheh.

3. We received an early version of it for review last month (Dec) and it seemed pretty complete, so I'd expect the release date we have posted as 02/08/01.

4. That would be Vampire: The Masquerade. you can get more information on the game at Activision's Vampire: The Masquerade website. We also have a review of it here.

5. You can download those extras at BGDungeon. Enjoy!

CD-ROM Failure?

I have bought the game recently and finished the installing it into my system. and I want to play it but it gives me a "CD ROM FAILURE" message on the screen and kicks me out.

What's going on? What can I do about?

Anonymous

This could be one of three things:

1. The CD is Scratched, or defectively burned.

2. The Copy protection scheme is not compatible with your CD-ROM at some point.

3.Your IDE Controller is loose or damaged. Check to see if the ribbons are not loose (Don't attempt unless you know what you are doing).

You should email the make of the game and ask them as well.

The Perfect Party for Baldur's Gate II

I spent many hours researching "The Perfect Party". I also went online and went to many forums for outside information and applied any accurate information I received from those to it as well. Also, I just wanted to say, your forum at TGE was by far the most useful (really).

The Perfect Party:

A normal GOOD-ALIGNED mostly TRUE-CLASSED SELF-CREATED (multiplayer) party would include three warriors, a rogue, a priest, and another warrior to dual to wizard (remember the category of warrior is larger than the category of fighter, same with rogue, priest, and wizard too). All characters should be as close to chaotic good as possible. All characters should be HUMAN to allow greatest potential. Here is how you should design each character for the highest potential:

The first warrior should be a common fighter and specialize in two-weapon style and axe. If he/she were to wield the Stonefire Axe and the Frost Reaver, he/she would be a very adaptable fighter that can cause a horrid amount of damage with a high chance to hit. He/she needs 18 strength, 18 dexterity, 18 constitution, 6 intelligence, 8 wisdom, and 12 charisma, at least. Intelligence is the only ability that doesn't need to be any higher.

The second warrior should be a common fighter and specialize in two-handed weapon style and two-handed sword. If he/she were to wield the Carsomyr +5 he/she would obliterate all that impedes his/her progress. He/she needs 18 strength, 18 dexterity, 18 constitution, 6 intelligence, 10 wisdom, and 10 charisma, at least. Wisdom is all that could be higher (wisdom is useful for mind-control resistance).
The third warrior should be an archer-ranger and specialize in two-handed weapon style and longbows. If he/she were to wield the Heartseeker Longbow, he/she would be an awesome ranged attacker. The heartseeker is a wonderful weapon and is nearly as good as the Short bow of Gesen. Remember to utilize arrows of dispelling (mages), arrows of detonation (groups), and arrows of piercing (armored). He/she needs 18 strength, 18 dexterity, 18 constitution, 6 intelligence, 10 wisdom, and 10 charisma, at least. Wisdom is all that could be higher.
The rogue should be a common thief and should specialize in two-handed weapon style and short bows. If he/she were to wield the Short bow of Gesen, he/she would unleash a furious assault without the needs for arrows. Remember you are unable to utilize arrows (when using the Short bow of Gesen) with this character, that's what your third fighter is for. He/she needs 18 strength, 18 dexterity, 18 constitution, 6 intelligence, 12 wisdom, and 8 charisma, at least. Intelligence doesn't need to be any higher.

The priest should be a common cleric and specialize in two-weapon style, flail, and war hammer. If he/she was to wield the Crom Faeyr and the Flail of Ages +3, he/she would both have great strength and great speed; a truly lethal mixture. He/she needs 14 strength (Crom Faeyr will boost to 25), 18 dexterity, 18 constitution, 6 intelligence, 18 wisdom, and 6 charisma, at least. Intelligence is, amazingly, nearly worthless for a priest.

The warrior should be a Kenai and should be dueled at level 9. The newly dueled wizard should be a necromancer and specialized in two-weapon style, katana, and long sword. If he/she was to wield the Daystar and the Celestial Fury, he/she would both be devastating to evil/undead and be able to dish out a great deal of damage; awesome for a mage! He/she needs 18 strength, 18 dexterity, 14 constitution, 18 intelligence, 8 wisdom, and 4 charisma, at least. Wisdom shouldn't be increased anymore than it is.

All of this has been researched for a LONG time and all of this information is totally true. This design is the most powerful setup for a party. The use of the necromancer, the rarity of dual classing, the different proficiencies, and the different weapon choices are all based on real data and a consensus between gamers.

Brett Andrew Fisher

Excellent tip! This should help many BG2 players out there!!

Darkstone Quest Editor Help?

I've downloaded the Darkstone Quest Editor from your site yesterday, along with the tutorial, which took me about 6 hours to totally make it through... I have a basic grasp on how to do the terrain building, and what not, but all the "Machine" options, have left me very confused, and I'm not too sure on how to fully complete what's left to do after the tutorial (If this is making any sense). I suppose I'm asking, do you happen to know where I can locate a more 'through' English tutorial? In the same format as the one on your site would be nice, but really any that could better explain things.

C.J.

I wish there was, but as far as I know, the tutorial that came with the Editor is the only I know of. I just messed around with the editor until I learned what it did. Its a really great editor, and Darkstone never really got a lot of attention, which is sad, it was a great RPG!

Out of Stakes in Baldur's Gate II!!

After about 2 weeks of owning Baldur's gate 2, I can safely say that's become a big part of my life. But just a couple of hours ago I found myself actually stuck in a bad situation. Currently my party has just rescued Imoen, and is in the dungeon that follows. I got to the point where I killed the vampire (Dace something) but to my surprise I found that I had no stakes left at all. I figured that after Bodhi's dungeon they would serve no purpose so I dropped them (taking up inv. space). So here I am unable to kill this vampire, which I assume is pretty critical to the quest. I've even stooped so low as to try to cheat and get steaks in my inventory, but apparently there isn't even a code for them. Any advice you can give me would be much appreciated. Thanks a lot.

Sam Adelman

I believe that the editor Shadowkeeper will add stakes to your inventory (if you really need them). Also, if you can return to a town, a few people sell these.

What about us Mac users?

I simply love your site, it's easy to browse and has a lot of good information on current and upcoming RPGS. That's right, honest compliments, just suck it up.. :).

I have one wish for a feature, which is sorely missing all over the web: Macintosh specific game info and release schedules.

Ports of PC-first-games don't seem to get enough attention, which is too bad. Fact remains, not all people use PCs for whatever reason, but the games are pretty much the same. Your Baldur's Gate 1 resources work brilliantly on the Mac version for example. It would be a shame if the RPG community is split up into platform-specific sites (which usually end up static and uninteresting).

Anyways, it would be greatly appreciated if you would brainstorm for a solution to include us Mac users into the site.

Anonymous

We'll be adding Mac download sections to all the game areas that have also been released on the Mac. All the info that is currently there will work for Mac users as it did for PC users (And Playstation users). As I was saying, we'll have Mac downloads as well soon. This will include Patches to games, and Trainers/Cheats/Editors as well.

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